


Malibu Heat

by alec



Category: Brave (2012), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alpha Jack Frost, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - College/University, Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, Knotting, M/M, Misunderstandings, Omega Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Pining, Self-Lubrication, Spring Break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 07:28:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5996871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alec/pseuds/alec
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack stood up and moved his way over towards Hiccup, putting his arms on Hiccup's shoulder. "Dad wanted me to have a memorable final spring break — because we're only ever going to get one of these in our lives, Hiccup — and I wanted that too. And it wouldn't be memorable without my best friend here with me."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Malibu Heat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheMomeRath](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMomeRath/gifts).



Hiccup was wringing his hands like crazy. He looked down at them and realised that what was normally just pale skin was stark white and his nails were so blue from the pressure that they looked like the ocean they were flying to. They hadn't even left the ground yet and his ears were feeling full, like he'd dove too deep underwater, and the lack of airflow in the airplane cabin made him feel like he was suffocating. Overhead, the flight attendant was speaking, informing him about all of the possible ways the plane could crash, and that wasn't helping him feel any better. She wasn't addressing what would happen if the plane lost an engine, or how to evacuate or survive if there was a land crash, or a nosedive. They were flying from Pennsylvania to California; the likelihood of them having a water landing and needing a lifevest was entirely nonexistant, and by the time she finished with what everyone else seemed bored by, Hiccup was possibly the most scared he'd ever been. This plane was going to crash — he knew that — and there was absolutely nothing she had said that was going to save him.

"Hey, relax," Jack said, leaning over Hiccup's shoulder and whispering into his ear. "This is your first time flying, but I promise you that you'll be fine. You're safe."

The alpha's scent, his voice, even just his presence was normally enough to cut through anything Hiccup was feeling and put him at ease. Jack had a calming effect on Hiccup when he was worried, a pacifying effect when he was angry, and a joyful one when Hiccup was happy. He'd always had that power over Hiccup, and it wasn't just because he was an alpha. From when they met as six year olds — long before either of them had presented — Jack had always been able to deal with Hiccup in ways nobody else could, and they had been best friends for as long as they could remember. And, for years now, it'd been more. On Hiccup's end, at least. He was wildly in love with his best friend, completely smitten with the alpha, and his body reacted all the more to Jack as an alpha. Jack had absolutely no idea of any of that, of course. But the power that he had over Hiccup was impossibly strong; he had Hiccup wrapped around his finger without even trying.

But even Jack wasn't able to make him unclench his hands. He'd never personally flown before, but he knew there was enough to worry about. Planes taking off — there was that one news story where the plane got twenty feet off the ground before it crashed back down into a fiery explosion on the trees. Planes went missing — usually over oceans or jungles, mind you, but they were going to be flying over the desert and mountain ranges. There were hijackings and explosions that brought planes out of the sky. And it seemed at least once every two years or so, a plane simply went down. Hiccup's family wasn't poor — they were able to put him through university, after all — but they didn't have money to spare, and flying was a luxury that wasn't needed when the family only went as far as to Philadelphia for vacations.

Then the captain announced that they were cleared for takeoff and the plane made a minor motion backwards, pulling away from the gate, Hiccup's heart began racing in overtime, his hands unclasping for the first time since he'd sat down, gripping the ends of the armrests just as hard as they had been each other moments before. He could feel the plastic and the metal underneath digging in to him, and he was pretty sure that there was gum under the left hand side of the armrest, but he wasn't able to let go. ' _This is it_ ', he thought as the plane pulled out onto the runway.

"Hiccup, it's okay. You're going to be okay. I promise you," he could still hear Jack whisper in his ear, his voice soft, before he felt cold fingers tugging at his left hand. He wanted to let go but he couldn't, and it took a great deal of strength on Jack's part — probably helped that the white-haired boy was an alpha — to be able to get him to release. And then he felt the long, nimble fingers entwine themselves with his own. "I'm right beside you. I'm right here, and you're going to be fine. Just hold on to my hand for as long as you need. Don't worry," he continued whispering, and Hiccup's heart was beating now for two different reasons.

It took every ounce of self-control in Hiccup's body to not scream when the plane took off. He attempted to look out the window, thinking that if he was aware of his surroundings that he'd be able to handle the situation better, but that only made things much much worse as he saw the ground tilt and turn away, his body going in unnatural angles to the ground. He almost reached for the sick bag in front of him and the flight was literally just beginning.

The plane eventually evened out and the flight attendant let them know that now that the seatbelt sign was off, they could move about the cabin — ' _as if I'm that stupid_ ' — and people began pulling out their laptops or opening books, some people reclining their chairs and stuffing a pillow behind them. But true to his word, Jack never even motioned to let go of Hiccup's hand, and when Hiccup looked over at him, he seemed content without the use of one of his hands, his head tilted back and eyes closed, resting peacefully. Hiccup continued holding on to Jack's hand for stability for the first hour of the flight — earning them an adoring look from the flight attendant when she asked if they wanted anything to drink — and after the first hour of the flight, Hiccup began to feel more comfortable. He could still probably die, but he hadn't died yet. He could feel his body begin to relax, his death grip on Jack's hand relaxing slightly, and with another half hour passed he felt sure that he didn't need to be holding on anymore.

He still held on for another hour. He supposed it was lying, but this was everything he wanted and Jack was giving it to him, and he couldn't help his feelings from overtaking him and abusing Jack's charity and trust. All Hiccup had wanted for years was Jack to hold him. Well, more than just to hold his hand; he wanted _all_ of Jack. But he wanted this. He wanted Jack to want him, and to make his breath stop when he would look over and see him happy while holding his hand.

Another half hour later he released Jack's hand. It took so much willpower and strength to do, but he couldn't keep taking advantage of his best friend. Jack seemed to stir from a rest he was in as he looked over at Hiccup, before leaning in close and whispering: "I'm glad you feel safe now. There really is nothing to worry about. And I'm right here beside you if you need anything," as if those weren't the exact words that Hiccup had heard so many times in his dreams and fantasies.

Four hours later, the plane landed safely in southern California, and Hiccup decided that — while it would take more experience before he'd be truly comfortable — flying wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

"There is no way that we're staying here," Merida said as they walked through the front door of their hotel. If her words hadn't come out first, Hiccup's version would have followed mere seconds afterwards. To say that the hotel was opulent was a vast understatement. Live plants grew along pathways twining around a centrepiece glass waterfall trailed from the ceiling, the open windows along the back showing first a veranda and then the wide, beautiful ocean behind it. Everything was polished marble in both black and white, and Hiccup knew that there were professional businessmen who dreamed about just a single night in this hotel. And they were here for six days. Despite it being the start of spring break for almost every university in the nation, there were probably ten other people they could see even close to around their age.

It became apparent they were _indeed_ staying there when Jack gave the desk attendant their name and he smiled, handing them four keys to the two rooms the four of them were going to share; Merida and Rapunzel were sharing a room on the sixth floor, with Jack and Hiccup taking another on the eighth. They hadn't even finished their checkin when two bellhops appeared, politely relieving the four of them of their luggage and following them as they made their way to the elevators.

The elevator ride was silent, with Rapunzel and Merida's overwhelmed and stunned faces mirroring Hiccup's own. Jack seemed nonplussed about the whole thing, as though he had been here before. When they arrived at flour six, Merida and Rapunzel responded with barely more than a dazed grunt when Jack told them to get settled before stopping up at his and Hiccup's room.

"Jack, I—", Hiccup began as the bellhop was leaving, Jack having given him a tip of undisclosed amount. "Jack, I can't. You can't pay for all of this. This is so incredibly expensive. I can't let you pay for all of this. That's— this is all too much."

Jack threw himself on one of the queen-sized beds, sprawling his limbs out and relaxing as he moved to cushion his head. "I can, and I have." Unlike Hiccup's family, Jack's family was _considerably_ well off; his father owned one of the largest toy companies in the world, and though they lived in a modest house in the suburbs where Hiccup had grown up, he had _literally read in newspapers_ the net worth of the Frost family. It was a number in the tens of digits. "Do you have a credit card, or some money on you?"

Hiccup's stomach sank with a sudden fear, but he nodded his head.

"You take care of the things you buy — souvenirs, drinks, food, anything you forgot like razors or something. But everything else — the hotel, the plane — the details of our stay, you don't get to pay. Dad gave me — _us_ — this gift. This is our last spring break, Hiccup, and he wanted to make sure that we had something amazing to remember decades after we graduated. I didn't even ask him — he simply told me over winter break on his own that we were going to Malibu for spring break and that he'd take care of the details."

"But I—"

Jack stood up and moved his way over towards Hiccup, putting his arms on Hiccup's shoulder. "Dad wanted me to have a memorable final spring break — because we're only ever going to get one of these in our lives, Hiccup — and I wanted that too. And it wouldn't be memorable without my best friend here with me."

Hiccup didn't know what to say in response, so after a moment of thinking all he could do was nod his head that he understood. That seemed to be enough for Jack, who smiled and let go of Hiccup's shoulders. "Good. We've got that settled and done, so now it's time to get settled in," he said before proceeding to throw himself on the bed again, stretching before grabbing the remote and flipping on the television.

Rapunzel and Merida seemed to be adjusting slowly as well, if their absence was anything to judge by. At first, Hiccup was sitting on the edge of the bed, mentally unable to allow himself to relax, but as time passed, he began to fidget before he realised that he needed the restroom. Excusing himself to nobody in particular, he grabbed his smaller bag and shut the door to the most luxurious bathroom he'd ever set foot in: glass shower across the length of the long room, with dual shower heads on either side, the remainder of the wall in tile with marble everything. He gently set his pack down on the ground, deeming the marble too expensive to use just yet, and went about his business.

After washing his hands, Hiccup dug out his toiletries; he knew that SoCal was hot, but the short time he'd been here had already broken through his deodorant and if they were going to explore the town tonight, he needed a second application. He found the stick with no problem, but as he replaced it, a surge of momentary panic dashed through his heart.

His suppressants. They weren't here.

Hiccup continued to dig through the bag before confirming that he'd left them on the bathroom counter in their apartment, having taken them this morning. Hiccup willed himself to breathe slowly and think about this rationally. Heat suppressants didn't mix well with alcohol anyways — or at least, with _large_ amounts of alcohol — and they were in _Malibu_ for _spring break_. And Hiccup wouldn't be due for his next heat for another month and a half. His last heat had just passed a few weeks ago, and his body ran like clockwork. He took them daily outside of his heats mainly to just help maintain a hormonal balance, and to make sure they were adjusted to his system for when his heats were supposed to come. Missing a week wasn't going to hurt him, and though the initial fear of them not being there still stayed with him, it was at least slightly abated.

"Is everything alright in there?" Jack asked as Hiccup opened the door, and it was probably a mix of how long he'd remained in the bathroom as well as his scent no doubt carrying some of his fear through the room.

"Yeah. I just, I left my suppressants back at home."

Jack bolted upright, worry crossing his face. "Are you going to be okay? Do we need to get you some? We can spend the evening getting you to a temporary doctor to get a prescription, which shouldn't be difficult at all, and—"

"Jack, it's alright. Thank you, but I'll be fine. My last heat was only two weeks ago; I don't need the suppressants right now. They just would have been nice to have so my body would stay consistent."

Jack didn't seem to relax, and it felt like a role reversal from the plane now as Hiccup settled on top of his own bed, willing himself as best he could to give off the comforting and calming scent that omegas were best at giving, and he could see Jack begin to relax after a few minutes. It was sweet of him to worry, and Hiccup felt a wave of affection towards his best friend for it, but alphas rarely knew much about the details of life as an omega, and Hiccup knew his own body very well.

It took about half an hour for the knock at their door to arrive, and Hiccup let Rapunzel and Merida into the room. They had probably been likewise overwhelmed by their room, but it just as likely explained their lateness that Rapunzel had straightened her hair again and done a full wardrobe change, her summer dress giving way to a purple high low and tall heels that Hiccup felt were entirely impractical for the amount of walking they were about to be doing. Merida looked as though she had maybe brushed a curl from out of the way of her right eye, and Hiccup watched as it fell back into place. Her arched eyebrows showed that at this point, the alpha didn't even care about it anymore.

"Well, shall we get going?" Jack asked, slinging a shoulder around Hiccup and Merida both, and the four of them smiled wide in anticipation as Rapunzel opened the door for them.

* * *

It was amazing. All of Hiccup's life had been spent in small towns in Pennsylvania, culminating in Burgess. He'd never been to a city this large, or with this many people. And as they stepped away from their exorbitant hotel, they began to see the droves of other university students, many wearing insignias or crests of their respective universities, lining out the doors of other hotel lobbies. The streets were filled with students and the roar of voices managed to overtake the sounds of the cars driving by.

It was already early evening when Rapunzel and Hiccup began ducking into shops on the sidestreets, in part to avoid large bodies of crowds that were taking up the sidewalk in waves, but then their natural curiosities took over and the shops became sources of wonder. There were the tourist traps, the ones with the shirts and merchandise in full stock to cater to the drunk university students who wanted to brag that they'd been to _Malibu_ for spring break. But those gave way to a large retail clothing shop which had more clothing than he'd ever seen in one place before, and he wasn't able to stave off Merida when she got a gleam in her eye, saying "This skirt would match your eyes, princess." Or, he was almost able to, until Rapunzel's eyes went wide and she _insisted_. Hiccup took some satisfaction that, when he stepped out from the dressing room, all three of his friends' (and a couple of bystanders) mouths hung open. Hiccup considered buying it just for the reaction, but he took it off as though it were made of porcelain when he saw the price. When he stepped back out, Merida looked sheepish and not at all cocky, as though she'd been forced to eat her own words, and Jack still looked flustered and a blush played across his face when Hiccup tried to meet his eye. But then Hiccup's stomach growled and that was enough, it seemed, to snap Jack out of his trance as his eyes snapped to his best friend, saying "Hey, good, you're hungry. I mean, we're all hungry. Let's go find somewhere that isn't packed to eat dinner, because I haven't eaten since we got on the airplane."

As it turned out, there wasn't anywhere that wasn't packed — even if the majority of the other students were still at various stages of booking or being rejected from hotels. By the time "Jack, party of four" was called by a pretty blonde waitress who had just walked outside, the four friends had draped themselves on various surfaces, their hunger taking the best of them as they complained in a circle about who would die first and if the others would be hungry enough to eat them.

The food was delicious, though Hiccup suspected a great deal of their praise for it was simply at the fact that they had been given food at all. True to his word, Jack never motioned to foot the bill for Hiccup and the others, and Hiccup tried to recall if there had been a time when he'd been as happy to spend his own money as he was now. They were heading for the door to the restaurant when Jack grabbed Hiccup's shoulder.

"Hey, guys. They have a bar here, and we're not likely to get into another bar tonight without a lot of waiting, so let's start spring break off here."

"Jack, look around you. This is the equivalent of getting plastered at an Applebees," Merida replied, and Jack's eyes lit up mischievously.

"Then don't get plastered, lightweight," and Hiccup and Rapunzel gaped at the alpha before Merida grabbed him by the wrist.

"It's on, Frosty Ass," she said as she pulled him towards the bar, the two omegas following in her warpath.

Ten minutes later, the four of them had their arms interlocked in a circle, each with a shot of tequila in their hand. With a resounding _Cheers!_ , they knocked back the shots, Rapunzel's nose wrinkling and Hiccup sputtering as the liquid fire poured down his throat. He felt certain he saw a flash of something in Jack's eyes, but the gauntlet had been thrown, and his best friend had too much pride to show any weakness to any challenger, much less Merida.

Even switching to mixed cocktails and then a margaritas (which Hiccup had assumed would be safe), after an hour Hiccup was having a hard time standing even though he wasn't moving, and some point of his four-years-of-engineering-school brain told him that if he simply uncrossed his ankles, he'd have an easier time balancing, but for the life of him he couldn't remember how to uncross his ankles, so he was leaning on Rapunzel as they watched the two alphas toss back shot after shot. When Rapunzel stumbled over absolutely nothing while standing still, bringing Hiccup down with her onto the back of an adult at the bar and earning a very angry reprimand that sounded like it was in another language that Hiccup knew the alphabet to but none of the words, he felt pretty sure that the two alphas set their shotglasses down at the same time and said: "Draw. We have more important things to worry about right now."

Jack's arm draped over Hiccup's shoulder after Jack took the bill, Hiccup too inebriated to fight (or even process that Jack was exchanging money for goods and/or services) and he tried to walk. He made it as far as right outside the door before his legs utterly gave way and he sank to the ground. A moment later and there was a _very_ unpleasant vertigo as he went from vertical to almost horizontal, and it took him a moment to realise that Jack had picked him up and was full-body carrying him as they (presumably) made their way back to the hotel.

"Yew alphas can hold too muzz alcohol," Hiccup muttered with his head resting against Jack's chest.

"You, Hiccup, are an adorable drunk," was all he got in reply.

"Dun't you, dun't 'ou be specif-spec-condescendingly towa-to me," Hiccup replied, trying to poke Jack's chest and missing wildly. He shut his eyes, though, and the gentle cadence of up-and-down was causing his stomach to threaten vomiting even while Jack's scent this close to his nose was causing him wave after wave of _peace_ to course through him. Eventually the alcohol won out, though, and with a frantic "'Ut MME DOWN!" there was a lot of Hiccup's dinner now hidden behind one of the plants in a sidewalk garden. At least throwing up while drunk was an incredibly painless procedure, and this time when he felt arms sweep under his knees and back, he settled in with a much more contented feeling of _I wish this were home_.

Hiccup's bed plush underneath him was the next sensation he was aware of, and Jack rolled him to his side while fetching a glass of water that he insisted Hiccup down, even though liquids of any kind were strictly off Hiccup's list of acceptable things to put in his mouth at the moment (a list which was, in his present state, very narrow and very specific and caused him to giggle with a blush crossing his face). Jack's hand was stroking his hair after he set another full glass on the nightstand next to Hiccup, and Hiccup fell asleep with Jack's hand on his head, fingers gently carding through his hair.

* * *

Waking up was not fun, and Hiccup practically yelled at a sleeping Jack to close the fucking blinds or he was going to murder the sun. His eyes were closed until the alpha had left his own bed and closed all three curtains. Hiccup hummed in approval and fell back asleep, waking up only when the smell of bacon was waved directly under his nose.

"I don't think the waitstaff were too happy about me stealing a plate of food, but I didn't think you were in much of a state to go out in public yet. Here's the greasiest food I could find." And Hiccup wolfed it down before demanding a trashbin. It turned out to be a false alarm, but Hiccup's head was pounding. Two proffered ibuprofen later and Hiccup was asleep again, waking up midday feeling much, much better.

"How are you feeling," Jack asked, and Hiccup, while his mental processes were still attempting to rectify themselves, was surprised at the lack of sarcastic quip from his best friend.

"Thanks to you, a million times better."

The room smelled of alpha relief for a few minutes, and Hiccup almost fell back asleep again, but for an entirely different reason.

* * *

"Come on in, the water is great, guys," Jack called out from waist-deep in the ocean to his three friends standing nonplussed at the edge of the tide, Hiccup taking a step back when it washed up higher than it had before.

"Jack, the fourteen hairs you have on your entire body standing at full alert seem to say otherwise. Like hell I'm getting in that water," Merida shot back. Which earned her a massive splash in the face with icy ocean water, the alpha emitting a scream of shock at the cold, her body seizing up as she attempted to regulate her breathing. Hiccup and Rapunzel watched her, Rapunzel reaching out to see if she needed a hand, before Merida's eyes snapped open, pure red, and she dashed at the water, jumping horizontally at Jack, who was trying his best to run away and forgetting that he was waist deep in water and his usual speed was gone. The resulting battle of water left both beach-residing omegas soaking wet as well and it took two shrill whistles from two separate lifeguards to break up the water fight.

Despite the sun and the warm air all around, the water was absolutely frigid, and Hiccup was gripping his bare chest in a tight hug as he stood still, visibly shaking with cold. His friends, while absolute monsters, seemed to take pity on him and leave him out of the water wars, until Hiccup feebly took one hand and lightly splashed a bit of water in Jack's direction, the drops falling short of the pale boy's toned chest. Jack looked at him with a questioning look, eyes asking if he really wanted to do this, before a veritable tsunami crashed over him from Rapunzel and Hiccup emitted a piercing scream that turned heads and probably scared off every shark in a four mile radius (something that Hiccup, who had always been landlocked, was deeply grateful at the naïve thought of). Throughout the remainder of the water battle, Hiccup didn't warm up even the slightest, but he accepted his fate that he would die of cold and making peace with death allowed him to fight back. When eventually they decided to take a break and lay in the sun, Hiccup was conflicted between wrapping himself in a towel burrito, laying in the direct sun for hours (which would have left his skin peeling for months), or asking his three friends to pile on top of him and save him from hypothermia.

He settled for a mixture of towl burrito and sunlight, and then allowed himself to be entombed as he was in warm sand, his friends having a great time first piling him high with sand, and then with drawing obscene marks on top of him. It was only when Jack drew what he thought was the outline of Hiccup's penis on top of his left leg (the alpha honestly thinking that was where Hiccup's crotch was) that Hiccup began to struggle to get out, embarrassed, and realised he was completely immobile. Thrashing wildly in claustrophobia, his three friends began to scoop him out of the sand, Jack breaking through first in a crazed frenzy and removing just enough that Merida could drag Hiccup by his exposed shoulders from the sand. Hiccup tried to laugh it off, but he felt much better after he showered the sand off and they decided to pack up and head back into town.

Hiccup was much more at home two hours later, pouring over two stories of bookshelves in a massive bookstore, seeing a wider and more comprehensive selection of books in one place than he'd ever before. Not for the first time but especially now, he resented always being stuck in small towns, and made a promise to himself right then that he would move to the biggest city he could think of after he graduated. The logistics of such a move would come later, he decided, as he pulled a book on the philosophy of Star Trek from the shelves and opened it up to a random page, starting with the words "Spock and Kirk together represent the duality of the human condition..."

* * *

It was when Jack had stepped away from the breakfast table Wednesday morning that Rapunzel hesitantly cleared her throat. It hadn't escaped Hiccup's attention that both of them had seemed on the verge of asking what was probably the same question, and it was really beginning to get to Hiccup that he didn't know what was happening. But the fact that they had waited for Jack to walk away didn't escape him.

"So, uh, Hiccup... is everything alright?" Rapunzel asked tentatively, and Hiccup knew that wasn't the question, but he couldn't figure out what it meant.

"What? Yeah, everything's fine."

"You, uh. I know you had your heat just a few weeks ago, but you've been taking your suppressants, right?" she asked, and she wasn't able to make eye contact. Suddenly, Hiccup found himself unable to as well, looking down at his half eaten omelette.

"Actually, I managed to forget them at home. But—"

Hiccup jumped when Merida almost punched the table, and he looked up at the alpha with wide eyes.

"You don't have your suppressants?" she hissed, and it was clear that she was struggling to keep her voice down.

Hiccup wasn't sure what this was about, but he instinctively felt his forehead, checked his pulse on his wrist, and sniffed at his shoulder. "I'm not even close to my heat, guys. Trust me. It's fine. It's only for a couple of days, and I'm really— don't worry." Merida shot a look to Rapunzel that said otherwise. Hiccup's eyes narrowed. "Why are you even asking this? What are you getting at."

Rapunzel looked as though she were trying to answer the question delicately when Merida cut to it straightforwardly: "Hiccup, are you fucking Jack?"

Hiccup sputtered, silverware clanging from his hands loudly on the plate beneath them. "What?!"

"Are you fucking Jack? Yes or no," she repeated.

"No, I'm not fucking Jack, guys. Why— what would— why would you think that?" he asked, hoping against hope that he was imagining his face heating up at the thought of his best friend fucking him.

"Hiccup, your scent is radiating practically nothing but _contented omega_ , and it's only been getting stronger over the past two days. What's going on?" Merida replied.

"I don't—" Hiccup began, before it hit him. He— he probably was. He felt content. He felt... at peace. In a way that he never did at home; in a way that he never did at all. He and Jack _lived_ together, they spent time together, but they'd never shared a room before. Jack was protective of Hiccup, but he'd never carried him before or let him fall asleep while stroking his hair. He'd never provided for Hiccup by paying for things like _this_ , or for showing the depth of caring for him that he had since before they'd even taken off from Pennsylvania. Everything about this was... it was everything that Hiccup wanted from his best friend. He _wanted_ his best friend, and it felt... it felt like he had him. On some base level, he probably — no, he did — feel like he had his best friend. He was content. Or something even more.

Jack set his plate of eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy — the second full plate he'd had this morning — down at his spot next to Hiccup, pulling out the chair and picking his napkin up from where he'd left it. "What was that about?" he asked Hiccup, and Hiccup jolted and paled, wondering how much he'd heard. Merida and Rapunzel looked away as well for a second, before playing it off and returning to eat their food like nothing had ever happened.

"W-what? What was what about?"

"It sounded like you basically threw your fork at the plate not even a minute ago," the alpha replied.

"O-oh. Yeah. I realised I forgot about midterms in a few weeks, and how I probably should have brought my calc book with me," Hiccup lied through his teeth. Jack didn't look convinced as the corner of his mouth turned downward, but after a second, he picked up his own utensils and began eating, evidently not going to press Hiccup any further.

Hiccup wasn't sure what he would have said if Jack hadn't.

* * *

The four of them had probably spent an hour waiting in line to get in to the club, and Hiccup could understand why; actually, seeing the place filled with so many moving bodies, he was surprised they'd been allowed in at all. There was no way a fire marshal would have allowed this if they were aware that even half the number of people present were here. An array of smells assaulted Hiccup's nose and it was almost stifling, the scents of so many people in one place, mixed with sweat and alcohol and artificial pheromones and probably a few other things that Hiccup didn't want to think about. But this was— this was inarguably a place to spend a night of spring break. It was two floors, or rather a tall single floor with a balcony around it. Hiccup guessed that they could have fit a full passenger jet into the area, and yet the room was still packed with a line that stretched down the block, around it, and threatened to loop around itself again.

Hiccup felt the jolt of an arm over his shoulder and Jack's head appeared between Hiccup and Merida's. "Now _this_ is what I'm talking about. Tonight is going to be _fun_ ," he said with a grin, and Hiccup wasn't sure whether to be excited or scared. Rapunzel and Merida's words had been echoing in his mind throughout the day, not leaving him alone, no doubt the cause for his scent shifting at one point to vague distress and causing Jack to come over and asking if everything was alright, which had only made the situation all the more worse. Adding alcohol to the mix sounded like the worst combination he could make right now, but he was here to have fun and enjoy spring break — a trip he could _never_ have gone on were it not for Jack, and Jack deserved Hiccup repaying him in kindness and not ruining it. And, there was a slight chance that the alcohol could make it better, he told himself. That didn't sound very plausible even in his own head, but he supposed there was a theoretical possibility.

With a grab at their wrists, Jack dragged the Merida and Hiccup towards the bar, Hiccup seeming to be the only one of the three of them to remember that there was a fourth member of their group; he turned his head as he was being pulled, watching Rapunzel bumping into muscular alpha after alpha, politely excusing herself before backing into another one in an almost comical display of inattentiveness and helplessness. Hiccup's preoccupation with the other omega only served him to, ironically enough, be dragged into a dancing beta, who looked more than a little annoyed at his apologies as he continued to be whisked away in the direction of the bar.

By the time Rapunzel had arrived at the bar, Jack had already ordered four mixed drinks by a name Hiccup didn't recognise, and the boy had to squint at the bartender; the professional had moved quickly and Hiccup wasn't _entirely_ sure that he'd seen right, that the bartender had poured both tequila and vodka into the same four glasses, so when Jack proffered the drink to him the omega eyed it very warily.

"Drink up, guys," Jack said with a smile on his face, clearly in his element. "This is going to be the start of something amazing." He linked his arm under Merida, effectively cutting her off from drinking, but they all got the cue and linked arms, pouring back their glasses with their friends' arms interlocked. Distance from home would never break tradition.

Two drinks later, and Hiccup was definitely sure that there was vodka and tequila in that drink, and there was probably something else as well because he was at least a little sure that the drink was _glowing_ an unnatural blue in the light of the club. As Hiccup wrinkled his nose, finishing off the last of the third glass, he let his arm drop, Jack immediately dipping to make sure that Hiccup didn't drop the glass on the floor. But Hiccup wasn't going to. He still had motor controls. He wasn't a little pup, he could handle himself even if maybe he'd had a bit of a lot to drink, Jack.

The white-haired boy stood up, _deep_ inside Hiccup's personal space, before gently taking the glass from Hiccup's hand. The omega just stared up at his best friend with wide eyes, head swaying a little, suddenly _really_ wanting to feel Jack's lips against his, all the while hoping that his scent wasn't revealing anything. Or maybe actually, maybe hoping a little that his scent was revealing something.

"Woah, lemme just get this glass back on the counter. I think we should switch to dancing for a bit," Jack said, and Hiccup let go of the glass without thinking about whether or not Jack was actually holding onto it. It was a good thing that the alpha actually _was_ , but the sickening moment of ' _Oh I just fucked up_ ' brought a wave of sobriety over Hiccup. Jack disappeared in the general direction of the bar, no doubt having to wade through a tide pool of human bodies to get to it just to set the glass down on the counter, and Hiccup focused as best as his inebriated eyes could on his surroundings because he couldn't make eye contact with his other friends. He could feel their eyes on him, though.

There was a vague sense of relief when Jack returned emptyhanded, no more drinks in tow for the four of them. "Why don't we go dance for a while instead," he said, grabbing Hiccup's wrist and pulling him and the others towards the dancefloor. The omega rotated his arm as best he could to make sure that Jack couldn't feel his pulse, feel his heart speeding up rapidly, but Jack looked back and thought that Hiccup was trying to free himself and instead let go after a moment. Hiccup wanted to let out a whine and ask him to put his hand back. To put his hands back. Not just on his wrist. Everywhere.

They were lucky that their group was made of two alphas, who were able to steamplow their way to almost the centre of the massive dancefloor, Rapunzel and Hiccup following in the wake they left behind. When Jack stopped, Hiccup blamed it exclusively on the alcohol that he crashed into his friend, his depth perception completely thrown off by the slight addle to his brain. Jack just seemed to laugh and right his best friend, and there again with the hands, with the affection, with the comfort. Hiccup wanted to pull himself in and hug him tightly. Catch his lips in a kiss. Stick his hands down the alpha's pants and—

Hiccup was definitely drunk, and in his professional opinion, he needed to chill the fuck out before he did something he'd not _regret_ but definitely would ruin everything he had with his best friend. Pulling himself away, the four formed a tight box with other raving bodies pushing them in closer. None of them had a particular partner to dance with, and so they dance with each other, the four of them. Jack was obviously taking the lead, both the most extroverted and, to Hiccup's neverending surprise, the best dancer out of the four of them. Hiccup, who felt like his gangly arms could do nothing except wield a screwdriver and a welding torch, found himself surprised that he wasn't watching his friends to copy their movements; normally when they danced, he paid no attention to anything but how they moved, trying to mimic them in the most faithful and yet subtle way, so that he looked like he belonged in the situation but wasn't just echoing his friends' movements. But now— the song was catchy, and Hiccup just found himself swaying to it and his body moving wildly (arms hitting Jack and Rapunzel a few times before learning the bounding box that he was supposed to stay inside of) and generally just following the music. Maybe he should dance drunk more often; this felt a lot easier to do. The omega practically screamed when they cut off _his song_ (which he hadn't realised was _his song_ until just now) midway through it, replacing it with some piece of garbage trash which had no beat and threw him entirely off of the groove he had set for himself. His eyes were open now (Hiccup not quite having remembered closing them while dancing), and felt a little betrayed that none of his other friends were showing the same level of outrage at the injustice that had just transpired in this very room. ' _How_ dare _they fucking cut off my song._ '

The other thing Hiccup realised about drunk dancing was that his body didn't tire out like it normally did. He also wasn't entirely sure how long they had been on the dancefloor for, but he knew that it was beyond what his usual limit was, and that he was still going stronger than he'd ever before even though by now his body would be protesting the fistpumping he was doing that was wildly out of sync with the beat of the song. Somehow this realisation brought a smile to his face, and he looked over at Jack, who smiled widely back at him, and Hiccup's cadence was thrown off because suddenly he didn't want to be dancing with the three of them, he wanted to be dancing with this one in particular. And so Hiccup's heart stopped beating when Jack moved forward, stepping up to Hiccup, their bodies close, almost flush, Jack's face leaning down, towards him, Hiccup's eyes closing involuntarily, face red, waiting for the taste of his best friend and wondering if he would taste as good as he had always smelled, as good as his fantasies had always been.

"I'm going to get something more to drink. I'll be back in just a little bit," Jack whispered into Hiccup's ear, and the omega had never been so grateful and so heartbroken that he'd been too slow to turn his head and nibble at the shell of his best friend's ear. Every ounce of his being wanted to follow Jack as the alpha left the dancefloor, but Hiccup stayed rooted to the spot. His dancing had lost the joy and recklessness that it previously had. Hiccup's shoulder's slouched as his eyes followed Jack through the crowd, and he felt Merida push up next to him, cupping her hands around his ear and almost yelling into it.

"You need to tell him something if you're going to look at him like that."

Hiccup just turned to look at her, and he was pretty sure it was the alcohol that made him glare because honestly, his friend was just trying to help him. He didn't want to argue with her, because he knew she was just trying to help. Hiccup didn't bother trying to make himself heard when he responded, and a few seconds later, he wasn't even sure if he remembered what he had tried to say.

He tried to get back to dancing, to wait for Jack to return. But the music didn't feel the same now that Jack was gone, he didn't have the same enthusiasm or willingness to let loose that he had before. Jack was only going to the bar, but he was taking a while; the line was exceptionally long, but it felt like too long, and Hiccup strained on his toes to see over the crowd. It wasn't hard to find a tall boy with pure white hair.

Or the platinum blonde he was standing close to, talking and laughing with.

This time, when pain shot through his heart, he could feel it through the numbing of the alcohol. Hiccup just stood there, head peaking over the crowd, looking at the tops of their hair as the girl was moving closer, shouting something directly in Jack's ear before he responded in turn. He was holding two drinks, and he was turned towards her.

And then he leaned over to her ear again, speaking, smiling, before nodding his head towards the dancefloor.

The final pieces of Hiccup's hope shattered, and he came down from his toes, his shoulders slumping along with the rest of his body, and he might have collapsed entirely if Rapunzel hadn't caught his arm and kept him upright. "Hiccup?" he could hear her say through the din of the voices and music all around him, but he wasn't paying attention. His heart knew what to do before his mind or his body did, and when he found his footing he tore his arm from Rapunzel's grasp, knowing he should feel appreciative or thank her, but unable to find the words or the emotions for it. He just— he had to get away from here. He couldn't, he couldn't stand to be here any longer, wait for Jack to come back, with the platinum blonde in tow, to have her meld into the group and dance with Jack and them both drink what Jack had bought them, and smile, and dance together, and—

And Hiccup turned and ran, pushing his way through the crowd hard, disturbing some people and ignored by others because of his narrow size. He wasn't sure where he was going, if he was going back to the hotel or if he was going to wander the streets until the sun rose, or wherever; all he knew was that it couldn't be in that small circle with Jack any longer.

He found himself at the edge of the bar, tucked away near a corner, outside where the lights of the dancefloor and the overhead illumination touched. Dozens upon dozens of people blocked his friends from sight, and that was as best he could allow himself. He knew he couldn't handle seeing Jack any longer, but some perverse part of him wanted to. Maybe it was hope, that he was wrong, or that she was an alpha as well — though that had never been an issue for Jack before. Hiccup tried to turn in on himself and put his back to the activity, hoping that his friends hadn't been able to follow him. He'd done his best to weave his way through the bar so that even he wasn't entirely certain where he was or if he'd be able to find his way back to them.

A filthy, narrow wooden ledge extended along the walls of the room, presumably to put empty glasses on, and Hiccup rested his elbows on it, already feeling the sticky residue of alcohol bottles seeping into his shirt as he hung his head and covered his face with his hands. He wasn't crying, he told himself. His deep breathing was just him trying to get himself together. To face the facts. To rationalise the situation, like he was able to rationalise everything else. He just needed to forget everything that had lead up to this point. He needed to forget that Jack had paid for this trip, that Jack had been attentive and caring, about the way that he smiled with genuine happiness when Hiccup had enthusiastically shown him a book he'd found on cryptozoology at the bookstore even though Hiccup had known that Jack had no interest in it. And he needed to forget about Jack smiling and leaning in towards the blonde, holding out a drink for her as he asked her to dance. He didn't need to forget these things forever; he didn't want to forget these things forever. But he needed to for now, to get his emotions in order. He needed to blank out his mind and regain his emotions. He couldn't run from Jack forever — they slept in the same room, unless he was bringing the platinum back and he'd sleep with Merida and Rapu—

"Mate, are you okay?" a deep voice asked him from behind, and Hiccup's thoughts stopped for a second. He realised that his shoulders had been shaking violently, that his palms were wet with tears that he couldn't stop from streaming down his face, that he'd been emitting a high whine at intervals where his vocal chords were able to make sounds. And he probably smelled of nothing but _distress_ and _hurt omega_ , which was the reason why he had an alpha behind him now, his instincts to protect no doubt unable to resist coming to the omega's aid. It took Hiccup a moment to compose himself, to steady his shoulders and get them to stop shaking, and he wiped his raw eyes with the front of his sleeve as he turned to face the stranger, doing his best to keep himself together. He did his best to force a smile for the alpha — a tall, muscular male, no more than a year or two older than him, with short, spiked grey hair and a trimmed beard that outlined his jaw. Hiccup opened his mouth but was cut off before he could get even the first word out. "It's painfully obvious you're not alright, so don't bother lying." Hiccup closed his mouth, his smile faltering back (though he didn't cry, and had he been in a better state, would have taken some pride in that). "What's wrong? Did someone attack you?"

Hiccup couldn't suppress the forlorn smile that crossed his face. It wasn't what the alpha had meant; he'd meant if anyone had forced themselves on Hiccup, which nobody had. It was a valid question and even assumption to make, given the place and time they were in. But it was the opposite of it; somebody hadn't forced themselves on him. Not that it would have been forced to begin with. "No," was all he could manage before his voice trailed off, and he knew that the alpha couldn't hear him over the noise of the club and only understood him by the shaking of his head.

"Were you abandoned, then?" he asked, and for a second Hiccup forgot his sadness and almost felt repulsed that this was one of those alphas that saw omegas as something barely more than pets. It must have shown on his face, though, because the alpha back-pedalled quickly, adding "I meant, by your friends. Or your alpha. Or beta. Or omega. Or whomever."

Hiccup took a deep breath and hung his head. He'd never had an alpha to begin with, so the answer was 'no'. And _he'd_ been the one to abandon his friends, so he had no right to shake his head yes, even though his emotions were making him do so of their own volition.

The omega could feel a large hand tentatively place itself on his shoulder, the hesitation in the movement obvious in the alpha's intention to not threaten Hiccup, to allow him the chance to refuse the contact. But Hiccup didn't, and it felt nice, even with a stranger — even with a strange _alpha_ — to have some form of affection. There was probably something true to the at-best pseudo-science that omegas needed and craved physical contact more than the other genders. Even if he wanted nothing more from the alpha, it felt good to have the firm hand on his shoulder, somehow making things feel like they were better than they seemed. At least he was distracted enough from his previous thoughts that the emotions felt dulled.

But why _shouldn't_ he want anything more from the alpha? After all, Jack was having his fun; he was meeting strangers and hooking up with them, so why shouldn't Hiccup as well? The thought crossed his mind, and he looked up at the alpha, eyes passing over the face, the neck, then the muscles that showed through the thin shirt he was wearing. By all accounts, the man was incredibly attractive to Hiccup, and on some level he could feel his body register an immediate physical attraction to him. But his heart couldn't handle it and his mind couldn't reconcile it. He could have all of the alphas he wanted — he could probably have most of them, if the stares he got on the streets were anything to go by — but he didn't want that tonight. At some point in the future, yes; when he was ready to face reality, he'd find other alphas. Maybe this one. But not tonight. He couldn't do it tonight.

The two stood there for a minute before the alpha turned his head towards the dancefloor, tilting it up as though he were looking for someone, and then turned back to Hiccup. He stood to the side, leaning down the good six inches between their height to speak into Hiccup's ear and ask "Well, my friends are out dancing right now, if you'd like to join with us. We can make sure you get back to your hotel safe at the end of the night as well," he offered, and Hiccup swallowed before looking up at the alpha. He wasn't a threat, and he was trying to be kind, and maybe all Hiccup needed was to distract himself, to meet new people, to not have to deal with his own friends — the knowing stares of Rapunzel and Merida, and the absent stare from Jack.

Hiccup nodded his head slowly, and the alpha dropped his hand to the middle of Hiccup's back — Hiccup noting that it was an entirely harmless movement, stopping well above his waist — and began to gently move him towards the dancefloor.

"HICCUP!"

Hiccup managed to hear it over the sound of the music and shouts and chanting and noises of the club. Jack's voice rang out over the crowd and as Hiccup's head whipped towards the sound, he saw a few others as well. Jack was standing a few yards away, only half of his body visible between the people separating them, his eyes wide and his hands cupped around his mouth to project his voice. Hiccup pulled back reflexively, and he could feel the alpha's hand on his back grip him more firmly as he slowly moved himself between Hiccup and what he obviously believed to be a threat to the already hurt omega he had found. He supposed that Jack _was_ a threat, in some form, but he reached up with a newly shaking hand and put it on the alpha's bicep. Green eyes looked down at him and his face relaxed as Hiccup tried to indicate that he would be okay.

When Hiccup looked back, Jack was much closer to them, wading through the last of the people separating them before he was standing in front of Hiccup and the other alpha, looking from Hiccup to the alpha and then back to Hiccup, and Hiccup recognised a range of conflicting emotions in his eyes. Defensiveness. Possessiveness. Anger. Hurt. But mostly, sadness. A profound sadness. "Hiccup," he repeated, this time much softer, voice just audible above the noise, and there was a pain in his voice that stirred emotions inside Hiccup that left him in a blur.

"Is he the one that hurt you?" the alpha asked from above, and though the grip on Hiccup's back was less tense, there was a protectiveness and firmness to the alpha's voice that managed to both ask Hiccup a question and threaten Jack.

Hiccup didn't know what to say as Jack looked at the alpha with something just short of seething anger before looking at Hiccup as though he were a wounded puppy. "Hurt you?" he asked, voice genuine, and Hiccup thought he could hear Jack's voice crack when he then repeated Hiccup's name. Hiccup took a breath, which consisted of many shallow, contracted breaths that made his body shake, before he tugged on the strange alpha's sleeve and spoke into his ear.

"I— I think— I think I need a minute. With him," was all he could think to say, and the alpha paused for a moment before nodding and turning to speak back into Hiccup's right ear.

"Alright. But I'll be watching from a ways away, and if anything happens, I'll step in. If you need anything, just motion, and I'll get rid of him."

The tall alpha started to stand back up before Hiccup pulled him down a final time. "Thank you. So much." The alpha merely nodded before glaring at Jack and walking away, back onto the dancefloor.

It took a moment for Hiccup to work up the strength to be able to look up at Jack, but when he did, all he saw was his best friend on the verge of tears, clearly doing his best to hold them back, only the slight quivering of his thin lips giving it away. Hiccup found himself looking away from Jack again, but for a different reason now.

Jack took a step towards Hiccup, and Hiccup's instincts screamed at him to take a step backwards. He never found out if he actually would have, because there was a body pressed up against his back that prevented him from moving at all. Though the club was alive with music that would leave Hiccup's ears ringing when he left later that night, there was a profound silence between the alpha and omega, and there were too many emotions that Hiccup could feel floating between them. After what felt like an eternity Hiccup looked up, and Jack looked torn between asking two questions that would both be painful, neither of which he probably wanted to know the answer to. Hiccup watched Jack's mouth open, though, and it was only barely possible to hear Jack's voice. "H-hurt you? Did I hurt you, Hiccup?"

Hiccup couldn't look at Jack again. He wondered how long it would take him to be able to make eye contact with his best friend again, if he'd _ever_ be able to make eye contact again. He couldn't answer his best friend, because if Jack were only his best friend this wouldn't have been a question that Hiccup's heart couldn't bear to answer.

Another silence passed between them before a short, pained laugh came from Jack between them. "He's, he's very attractive. I, I guess you've got good taste, huh?"

At this, Hiccup found himself able to meet Jack's eyes, sadness giving way to the anger and rage and hurt that he felt, his mouth turning into a sardonic grin. "I guess you do too," he almost spat back, wanting to flinch at the venom in his own voice but he wasn't showing any more weakness to Jack. Jack, however, recoiled at Hiccup's words, either not expecting them or not expecting the animosity that carried them.

"W-what do you mean?" he asked, his voice a mix of confusion and hurt, and there was a small part of Hiccup's nature that wanted to soothe his friend, but it couldn't overpower his anger.

"The blonde," Hiccup replied, mocking smile still on his face. "She's very attractive," he said, raising his eyebrows to punctuate his sentence. Jack looked at Hiccup with utter confusion, evidently trying to piece together what Hiccup had said, as though it were something completely foreign.

"Hiccup, I don't know what you're talking about. What—"

"The blonde that you asked to dance with you. You bought her drinks, you asked her to dance. I saw you, Jack, don't pretend like you don't know." But Jack continued on, mouth slightly open, head slightly to the side as he stared back at Hiccup in pain and confusion.

"The blon—?" And then it appeared that realisation dawned on Jack as his eyes grew wide and his mouth opened further, taking a deep breath as he lost the words to say. Hiccup felt as though he had won a battle he'd never wanted to win, and he smiled at Jack knowingly, trying to maintain his anger as he felt it ready to give way, because the only thing underneath it was pain and hurt. "Hiccup, I—" Jack made a step towards Hiccup, and this time, Hiccup took a step backwards, the action stopping Jack in his tracks, with his arm partially raised, his eyes widening that Hiccup had stepped back at all. The pain was obvious in Jack's voice when he spoke. "Hiccup, I— I didn't ask her to dance with me."

"Oh really," the omega snapped back, face contorting.

"Hiccup, why are you— why— how did I hurt you," Jack pleaded, and Hiccup looked away, expression a mixture of hurt and anger. "Please, tell me, Hiccup. How did I hu—"

"BECAUSE I LIKE YOU," Hiccup screamed at him, tears already back at the corners of his eyes, and he felt his heart stop, having let the emotions out. He wanted to take them back in, shove them away behind his closed lips, but he couldn't do that and it felt as though the world came to a halt as both of them froze, even if there were hundreds of bodies dancing all around them.

"What?" Jack asked, softly, and Hiccup's eyes fell.

There was no point trying to deny what he had said; it was too late, and he wouldn't be able to take it back, so he had no choice. "I like you, Jack. I like you more than a best friend." And then the words were flowing. "I've felt so at home with you for so long, and I don't know when I started feeling this way, but I did, and this trip, everything about it, you made me feel things — you made me feel _special_ — you made me feel like I was special _to_ you. And I thought," Hiccup's voice cracked, and that was where he ran out of words, turning his head to the side as his lips trembled.

This time, when Jack stepped forward, Hiccup didn't take a step back. There was no point in running anymore.

And then Jack took another step closer. And then another, until most of Hiccup's diverted gaze was on Jack's body and he had no choice but to look up into his best friend's eyes.

Their lips met and Hiccup let out an audible gasp. Hiccup's eyes flew open in surprise, unable to see anything other than the pale expanse of his best friend's face, the shock of white hair falling in front of his eyes. And then he felt the alpha's arms wrap around him, under his arms, gripping at his shoulders in a tight hug, as though he didn't want to let go ever again. Or for Hiccup to run away.

When Jack pulled away, Hiccup was still too stunned to be able to move or process what happened. All he knew was that his lips felt like they were missing something they'd never known they needed.

"Hiccup, I—," Jack began, before taking a deep breath, his chest pressed flush against Hiccup's and pushing into the omega's. "She came up to me when I was ordering my drink. She asked if I was here with anybody, and if I wanted to dance. I told her that I was, and when she asked if I was with anyone special, I told her I thought I was. I told her 'I'm with someone I care about a lot — so much — but I haven't told him,' and she elbowed and told me to order two drinks, not one. 'Spring break is when you're supposed to let loose and make memories. You give him that drink, you tell him, and then you dance with him.' She told me that she doesn't even know my name but that I had better do it or she'd find me and beat my ass. And so I was going to, but you'd already gone and Merida was angry at me and Rapunzel was in a panic, and I went off trying to find you and then you were here, with..." Jack's voice trailed off, and Hiccup could feel Jack's grip releasing from him, evidently remembering the scene he'd intruded on.

"He saw me crying and asked what was wrong, and thought that I'd been hurt or abused. He was taking me to his friends so that they could watch over me and get me home safe when the night was over since I was now out alone."

Jack looked away, and there was a bit of lingering hurt still etched on his face, but then he let out a short sarcastic laugh. "I guess we both misunderstood."

Hiccup felt the first tug of a slight sliver of something happy tug at the corners of his lips. "I guess we're both idiots," and when Jack looked back to make eye contact, the stare was too intense for Hiccup to maintain for very long, having to divert his eyes to the side from the sheer force of _Jack_.

With Hiccup's head turned to the side, it was easy for Jack to speak directly into Hiccup's ear over the roar of the club. "You said you don't know when the shift happened, but I remember when it did for me. It was that night, about a year ago, when you— after my mom's funeral— when you heard me crying in bed and you came and knocked on my door and climbed in to bed with me and just held me. And when you listened to me for days, weeks on end, and every time I cried you would just hold me and say nothing and light a candle and wrap us in blankets and listen until I fell asleep. And at first, I thought my feelings were just because of the void I felt with my mother gone. But I realised that these weren't new, they were just ones I'd never acknowledged before. And I wanted to tell you, but I was scared, and I didn't know when, and I didn't know how you'd feel but I knew that I couldn't lose you, so I went to Merida instead." Jack let out a shallow laugh. "She knows way more about _this_ than I probably should have told her. But Hiccup?

"I love you."

This time is was Jack's turn to let out a muffled shock as Hiccup's hands gripped the back of Jack's hair, carding it between his fingers as he pulled their heads together, lips locking tightly. Jack's hands took no time in returning to Hiccup's shoulders, drawing the omega closer to Jack and holding him tightly as they pressed their lips together hard, before Hiccup parted his lips and felt Jack's tongue enter. And then, Hiccup wasn't sure what else was happening around him. The world was spinning as the smell of _Jack_ and _alpha_ and _pleased_ enveloped Hiccup. Jack was ruthless in exploring Hiccup's mouth, as though he were trying to taste everything about the omega, trying to claim him from the inside out, and that thought sent a physical shiver down Hiccup's spine, his spine arcing and pushing his chest further against Jack's, the alpha's grip not letting Hiccup pull away from their new proximity. He couldn't hear it over the sounds of the club around them, but the omega felt certain that moans were escaping from his mouth, his tongue trying to catch up to Jack's expert movements, the alpha letting Hiccup do whatever he wanted, but never letting them stop. Hiccup could hardly breathe from the intensity of it and the proximity of Jack's face, but at this particular moment, he didn't care. His heart told him that he could do without air for now, but that he couldn't do without Jack.

By the time that Jack pulled back and took in a big gulp of air, Hiccup's head was spinning from a mixture of lack of oxygen and overwhelming emotions. The two were breathing raggedly in each other's arms for a minute, Hiccup spending every second wanting to get closer again, and when they finally did, it was premature and brief and they separated, both still gasping for air. But when they closed the distance a second time, it was different. They were together, and they felt as one, and Jack's lips fit perfectly against Hiccup's and it was more than what Hiccup's dreams had ever been and it was everything that his omega nature needed.

Hiccup felt the narrow wooden ledge pressing into the middle of his back, unsure of when they had turned or when they had moved. It wasn't painful, but as Jack continued to advance and press himself into Hiccup, the space between them became non-existent as Jack's legs slotted between Hiccup's, the omega could feel Jack through his pants, Hiccup's eyes going wide as he separated their lips with a loud gasp. Jack immediately took the opportunity to begin mouthing at the omega's neck, first kissing, then nipping, and then biting lightly, enough to leave faint marks, and if Hiccup hadn't been pressed up against any kind of surface, he would have melted.

He wasn't aware of the music, his ears not registering anything other than the bass that he could feel more than hear, his attention given to his other senses. But when Jack began rocking their bodies together in motion with the music, Hiccup's eyes went wider than they ever had before, and he let out a moan as he felt Jack's erection grind up against him — first against his waist, then the side of his dick, and on the fourth try when Jack rolled his hips forward with emphasis, it aligned and ground up the full length of Hiccup's dick and this time, the omega could hear himself moan. Jack seemed more than satisfied if the sudden tightening of the grip on his shoulders was anything to judge by, and Jack's movements became forceful, dominant, at first keeping time with the music but then deviating, Jack beginning to rut against Hiccup erratically and without pattern, causing each roll of his hips to draw shivers and moans from Hiccup. The omega's hands slipped at first, falling to the small of Jack's back, but before he could control himself he was gripping onto Jack's ass as they moved with the alpha's grinding, and Hiccup let out a high pitched whine that was probably the cause of a particularly violent roll upwards that left both boys panting, though Jack didn't falter in his movements.

This was far beyond what Hiccup had expected from dancing, even from grinding; this was almost akin to torture, getting to feel Jack, feel his dick pressing up against him, rubbing him, teasing him by stroking him hard, but never touching him, never allowing him to be touched or to touch beneath his pants. At first, Hiccup could handle it, but his whines became more and more frustrated, the omega turned on immensely and wanting nothing more than to undress Jack, to shove his hands down the front of his pants, to grab what was tormenting him with pleasure so much. Finally, Hiccup couldn't take it anymore, and he moved his hands up from Jack's ass, before sliding them back down beneath the alpha's skinny jeans, feeling the globes of the boy's ass through the thin, sweat-soaked fabric of his boxer briefs as they moved. The action seemed to shock Jack, Hiccup taking a victory in the alpha throwing his head back in momentary ecstasy, before the tables turned and Jack began grinding even harder against him. Hiccup's hands began exploring the space they were confined to by the tight clothing, by trying to move deeper, trying to move under the hem of the boxers, trying to touch Jack's skin, to feel his body, to feel everything he'd imagined for so long. Everything else about this was already better than he'd expected, and he felt like this would be just the same.

Hiccup practically growled when Jack suddenly stopped moving, his head swimming and taking a hard time to come back to Earth, his eyes opening as a tall, muscular man stood over Jack's shoulder, expression authoritative but otherwise unreadable. Jack was growling slight as well, but Hiccup knew it was from possessiveness rather than at the lack of friction and clothed sex that had made every bone in his body leave and every inch of his being scream _'SEX. WHY AREN'T WE HAVING SEX.'_

"We're going to have to ask you and your omega to leave," the man was saying to Jack, and Hiccup preened at the words, being called _Jack's omega_. A wave of warmth washed over Hiccup and he could see at first Jack was instinctively ready to fight for Hiccup, but then he took one look at the omega, and he nodded emphatically — to Hiccup, not to the man — before he was dragging Hiccup by the arm towards the door, shoving people aside without care, not stopping to let Hiccup adjust himself so that his erection wasn't showing obviously through his own jeans.

As they exited into the warm night, Hiccup thought briefly that they hadn't come alone, but now in plain light, one look at how debauched Jack actually looked left Hiccup assured that their friends would be able to find their way back to the hotel on their own.

* * *

The moment that the elevator doors closed to the fourth floor, Hiccup was slammed against the wall of the elevator, Jack plastering himself against Hiccup's chest, pressing the omega back into the wall. The metal railing dug into the centre of Hiccup's back but the omega couldn't care less; all he cared about right now was the feel of Jack's dick, softer, but still pressing and rutting against Hiccup's front like before, the alpha going straight for Hiccup's neck and biting down, sucking at the skin, leaving Hiccup a writhing mess underneath. Jack barely had to roll his hips to provide any friction. When the doors opened and dinged their arrival on floor eight, Jack picked Hiccup up, full alpha strength, holding him to his front as he walked down the hall, Hiccup using the opportunity to wrap his legs around his best friend's waist and take his turn at Jack's neck. Their progress down the hall was slow, but neither boy could find it in themselves to care, this being what they wanted, and what they needed, and they let out somewhat muffled moans when Hiccup brought his lips to meet Jack's again. Opening the door was an involved process, Jack refusing to put Hiccup down though their hotel cards were in their pockets, and Hiccup almost fell backwards when the door he was pressed against opened finally. Jack caught him in a dip, and there was something silent between their eyes — Jack's now stained with red, Hiccup sure his own were a golden sunrise — before Jack hauled Hiccup up and the omega landed with a bounce on his bed.

The alpha wasted no time in crawling up the bed, dropping his weight on top of Hiccup, and their adventure from the elevator had apparently been all Jack had needed, Hiccup feeling the same hardness he'd felt on the dancefloor pressing into him. The room was a cacophony of needy noises and lewd moans, Jack's lips finding every visible piece of skin, his lower body rutting first against Hiccup's neglected dick, then against his inner thigh, and the omega felt certain that Jack was torturing him intentionally, teasing him with every upstroke that would press the head of his dick against the bottom of Hiccup's ass. The omega's hands were wandering, doing their best though mostly pinned down, and when they found their way up under Jack's shirt, the omega dragged blunt nails down the smooth skin of Jack's back, the alpha growling in pleasure against Hiccup's throat. The angle was hard to manage with his arms locked by Jack's, but he slowly tried to slip his palms underneath, to feel Jack's chest — the piece of skin he'd seen hundreds of times when Jack walked around their apartment shirtless, and in many more than one sexual dream — and when his fingers touched just the edge of Jack's toned chest, feeling the taut muscle contract as Jack moved up and down, Hiccup threw his head back into the pillow, narrowly missing the cushioned headboard. In the process, baring his neck for Jack, who saw the skin and raked his teeth across the spot where his left shoulder met his neck — where Hiccup's mating bite would eventually be. Not enough to do anything other than tease the skin, but Hiccup practically screamed, omega instincts overpowering any thought that he had left in his brain as he tore at the bottom of Jack's shirt, trying to lift it up over his head.

Jack was all too willing to oblige, and both boys were shirtless in a frenzy of movement, Hiccup getting just the briefest glimpse of toned pectorals and pale abs before they were pressed against his own freckled skin, and the contact sent shivers down Hiccup's spine, his body arcing against Jack's, feeling as Jack's dick rubbed hard against his thighs. Hiccup's fingers scrambled, his mind overwhelmed with his own lust and fueled by the heady scent of arousal pouring off of Jack in waves, and he needed to feel Jack in his hands _now_. He pushed at the hem of Jack's jeans, only slightly moving them, but Jack seemed to understand as he pulled back to unbutton his pants. The chill from the lack of Jack's fevered body pressing against him left Hiccup wanting to pull Jack back down, even as he lay rooted to the spot, entranced, watching Jack undo his belt in a fluid motion and unzip his pants. Then the alpha smirked and stopped taking his pants off, before moving back down to Hiccup, and with hands far more steady than Hiccup's own, unclasped and unzipped Hiccup's pants before moving up and locking lips with Hiccup again.

Hiccup wanted to struggle against Jack, he wanted to hit him for teasing him so painfully like that before doing nothing, but his hands seemed to understand what his brain didn't as they moved down to cup Jack's ass, pulling him in so their lower bodied aligned, and in the process Jack's now-unzipped pants freely moved down past his hipbones. Hiccup gasped as Jack smirked against the omega's lips as the thinly clothed head of Jack's dick moved freely out, pressing wet with a mix of sweat and precome against Hiccup's stomach, and Hiccup tried desperately to continue pushing down Jack's pants to free more of him, until Jack's knees were tied together by his own pants and all that stood between Hiccup and the alpha's dick were the dark blue boxer briefs he was wearing.

Tentatively, with hands shaking, Hiccup placed his hand on Jack's stomach, the alpha lifting himself up to give him room, and the omega enjoyed the feeling of Jack's defined abs moving as he rolled his body back. With slow, careful — something between fearful and reverent — Hiccup's hands glided down Jack's chest until the tips of his fingers disappeared beneath the waistband of Jack's boxers, the pads touching against the silky, fat head of the alpha's cock.

Hiccup let out a throaty moan as he wrapped his hands around Jack's member and began to stroke. Jack was big, bigger than any of the other alphas Hiccup had been with; Hiccup's fingers barely touched tips as he stroked up and down the length of Jack's dick, marvelling that his dick must have been twice as long as Hiccup's palms were wide. Hiccup's eyes rolled back in his head as he thought about the idea of _this_ inside of him, and he let out something between a high whine and a loud gasp when he stroked down and felt the burgeoning knot at the base among the short hairs there. Hiccup continued to stroke Jack, his movements clumsy as he tried to feel every inch of Jack's member, to commit it to memory, to explore everything he hadn't known he'd been fantasising about for _this_ long. When he opened his eyes, there was happiness and satisfaction on Jack's face (as well as a strong dose of arousal), and something about Jack being happy with Hiccup feeling like _this_ stirred the omega.

"J-ack, _please_ , oh my _god_ , please," Hiccup moaned, and he wasn't entirely certain what he was asking from Jack. All he knew was that he needed Jack to do something to him — anything at all — with his dick, with his mouth, with his nimble fingers and the body that looked like the a lithe god. He lifted his head and buried his nose in Jack's neck where his scent was the strongest and inhaled deeply, going lightheaded at the pure smell of Jack, and Hiccup's mind barely registered as Jack began shucking Hiccup's pants down and off his legs. When Jack returned to Hiccup, both of them were fully naked, their bodies close, their faces closer, and Hiccup leaned up the small distance between them and claimed Jack's mouth for his own. Their mouths opened immediately, Hiccup's tongue entering Jack's mouth and trying to fight for dominance before he lost control of his mind when Jack wrapped his hand around Hiccup's straining erection and began stroking it. Then it was just ragged breathing, hot breaths against Jack's mouth, against his skin, as Hiccup hung on for his life, feeling as Jack's dick hit against his pelvis as their conjoined bodies bounced on the bed.

When Jack let go, Hiccup let out a high whine, clawing towards a receding Jack. He had been so close — just a little more, a few more strokes, a little more of Jack's ministrations and teeth against his skin and he would have been coming, and it took so much self control to not take himself into his own hand and finish himself. But Jack had his back to him, rooting through one of his bags that was on top of the table by the television. After what felt like an eternity, Jack returned, covering Hiccup with his body again, Jack's member straining against Hiccup's and Hiccup needed just a little more friction, and he wanted to scream when Jack pulled himself away for a second time.

The alpha began to crawl lower on the bed, inching down, eyes meeting Hiccup's as he moved, before his head was next to Hiccup's crotch. Hiccup prepared himself for the warmth of Jack's mouth, the swirl of his tongue, the bobbing of his head and Hiccup carding his hands through Jack's hair, trying to warn him of the orgasm that would already be happening, come already coating the alpha's mouth as Hiccup choked out that he was close. So he was entirely caught off guard when Jack grinned up at him. "I wonder how tight you are, my little omega," he purred before sheathing one of his fingers into Hiccup's slick-soaked ass. Hiccup practically howled, the feeling of Jack's single digit inside of him, exploring and twisting around, filling him up even if it was just a single, thin finger. "You took my finger so well, Hiccup. I bet you can take both of them," was all the warning the omega had before a second finger joined the first, Hiccup's breath going ragged with want and ecstasy. Jack hissed as well when he began to separate his fingers, teasing Hiccup's hole open with his fingers. "God, you're so tight for me, Hiccup. So fucking tight. Even with all this slick, I'm going to need to loosen you up more if you're going to be able to take all of me," and whatever Jack's words were meant to accomplish, they were working, as Hiccup began shaking, his hole clenching tightly around Jack's fingers, wanting to skip all of the foreplay and have Jack inside of him no matter how hard it hurt. He wanted to beg for Jack to fuck him now, to fuck him hard and break the bed fucking his ass as deep as he could, but he couldn't find the ability to form the words. He'd never expected his mischievous but generally innocent best friend to have a mouth like this, and none of Hiccup's fantasies had prepared him for what was happening now.

When Jack stuck a third finger in and continued to force Hiccup's hole open with his fingers, the omega turned his head, reaching for a pillow to try and bury his face in to keep his volume down; there was no way the rooms all around them weren't hearing the obscene noises they were making. Jack's fingers immediately stopped as he looked up at Hiccup with almost pure red eyes. "Don't," he demanded. "I want to hear every sound you make and I want to hear you screaming my name." Hiccup threw the pillow across the room, it hitting the blinds loudly; he would do absolutely anything Jack asked if it meant that the alpha would go back to spreading him open.

Hiccup had never had a fourth finger inside of him, and he felt so incredibly full as his hole tried to stretch and fit the digits, most of which were forced together now, unable to separate because of the pressure from Hiccup's ring. Still, Jack did his best, and Hiccup could feel him still trying to push him apart, to open him up, and Hiccup felt tears at his eyes — some from the pain, but mostly from the feeling of raw pleasure he was feeling. He could feel slick pooling inside of him and leaking out from him, moving out between Jack's thin fingers and trailing down the crevice of his ass. He felt so full, so _good_ — he couldn't remember if he'd _ever_ felt this good before — but it wasn't deep enough, it wasn't fucking him, it wasn't throbbing inside of him or preparing to knot him. He needed Jack now more than he'd ever needed anything, and it felt like he needed Jack's knot right now more than he'd ever needed any knot during his heats. "Pleasseee," he managed to mangle out the words, and he couldn't see Jack (Hiccup couldn't force his eyes to open) but he could feel the alpha grinning at him. And then he was empty, and the shock of being so full, so stretched beyond what he'd thought was the brim, to being completely empty caused the omega to whine in complaint, to take back his words, to get Jack to fill him back up.

Hiccup heard packaging tearing from below him, and with Jack's fingers gone he was able to open his eyes as he saw Jack spit something small from the corner of his mouth. Hiccup watched, barely breathing, as Jack pulled an alpha condom out of its wrapper, pinching the tip as he rolled the condom onto himself (throwing his head back in momentary pleasure) before securing the dual bands of the alpha condom in front of and behind his knot, locking the condom in place. Dick hard, he got down on all fours, crawling his way up the bed until he was hovering over Hiccup, the omega shaking with mixed pleasure and anticipation. "Are you ready for me, Hiccup?" Jack asked coyly, and Hiccup couldn't understand how Jack still had this much composure because Hiccup was so far beyond gone. He could only swallow and nod his head with a whimper. Jack inched down a bit, before Hiccup felt his lower body lifted into the air, his legs landing on Jack's shoulders, and the blunt head of Jack's dick pressing against his opening.

Hiccup forgot to breath — forgot _how_ to breath — as Jack pushed inside of him, the feeling of the alpha splitting him open as Jack went deeper than his long fingers had been able to reach. The omega inside of Hiccup was screaming at him, screaming that this was perfect, this was everything, this was salvation, and Hiccup felt himself shaking his head in agreement, smiling mouth open in a silent, pleasured moan. When Hiccup felt the bulge of Jack's budding knot pressing against his hole, both boys were breathing heavily, foreheads sheening with sweat, Jack looking like a complete wreck for as much composure as he was able to show. As an omega, Hiccup was able to adjust quickly to the size of the alpha inside of him, but Jack still felt massive, still touched places deep inside him that had never been touched before, and if the slow push in were a sign for what was going to happen, he needed Jack to fuck him, now.

"You're so tight for me, my omega. So fucking tight around my cock. Do you like having it inside you, Hiccup? Do you like having my dick coated in your slick and ready to fuck you open?" Jack grinned from above Hiccup, and every word went to Hiccup's head and to his dick, and he was letting out audible breaths and doing his best to nod his head. Jack pulled out slowly, the drag of Jack's member and Hiccup's internal muscles contracting sending sensations of pleasure coursing through the omega. But then Jack shoved back in quickly, his partially inflated knot pushing past Hiccup's rim, and the rush of sensations caused Hiccup to scream something that started as Jack's name but ended with indeterminate sounds. Jack repeated the action, and Hiccup's reaction was the same.

The alpha set a gruelling pace, Hiccup able to do nothing more than claw at the sheets around him, trying to have something to hold on to and keep himself from sliding up the bed with the sheer force that Jack was fucking him with. Hiccup's body felt like liquid, barely able to keep his ankles crossed over Jack's shoulder as the alpha shifted and placed one hand on Hiccup's body and another on the bed to anchor him, and then he was driving into Hiccup faster and deeper, and there were no thoughts in Hiccup's mind other than a litany of ' _Mate. Mate. Mate,_ ' something he'd never heard himself say before.

"God you're so tight, Hiccup. You look like you like having me fuck you. I bet you want me to knot you. You want me to fill you up; you want me to breed you, don't you?" Jack asked wryly, and it didn't matter that Hiccup wasn't in heat, and it didn't matter that Jack was wearing a condom — Hiccup wanted all of those things, and more, and he was shaking his head emphatically, repeating Jack's words between breaths punctuated by Jack's thrusting, and Hiccup could feel Jack's knot growing larger with every word Hiccup was managing and every thrust the alpha was making. It had probably been hours now since they had started dancing in the club, and that Jack had been able to hold it off all this time — ' _to wait until he was inside his omega,_ ' his body told him — made Hiccup's dick twitch, and he could feel himself leaking, knowing how close he was.

"Ja-ck," Hiccup managed to plead out between breaths. "Please- knot. me. Pleasee-" he begged as he felt Jack's knot catching on his rim, and he knew that the alpha wasn't going to last much longer either. "I wa— al- 'f you - in. side me," he managed, and Jack let out a possessive growl, picking up his pace, Hiccup's moans hiking higher. With a final thrust, Jack shoved his knot past Hiccup's rim, spreading the omega out with a cry from both of them, and Hiccup could feel Jack thrusting shallowly inside of him before Jack's body spasmed, his best friend bending over and kissing him heavily, riding the waves of his orgasm as they coursed through him. Jack was breathing deeply, exhausted, and his head rolled to the side, unable to keep itself upright any longer. But Hiccup felt Jack's hands moving — much slower, more deliberately, with almost no force left in them — one pushing Hiccup's pelvis down to grind Hiccup's insides against Jack's knot, the other to stroke Hiccup, and on the third stroke Hiccup screamed Jack's name loudly in the empty room, come shooting between them, plastering all over Jack's chest and dripping down onto his.

The two boys laid there, panting loudly in the otherwise silent room, unable to form any words. Hiccup's legs were still bent, draped over Jack's shoulders, and the omega's thighs were rapidly beginning to sting in this position, but Hiccup couldn't do anything more than tap at them. The subtle movement seemed enough for Jack to understand, and it was a painful procedure to extract his legs while they were knotted but they finally managed to lower Hiccup's legs and rotate him around so Jack's sweat-drenched chest was pressed against Hiccup's back.

Neither boy said anything as their breathing normalled out. Hiccup wasn't sure what to say. He'd always imagined how he might tell Jack how he felt about him, but now that the situation was here, in front of him, the words couldn't come. Hiccup didn't know what Jack was anymore. They'd changed everything; after tonight, there was no going back to normal, no pretending that this had never happened. No matter what, they were no longer best friends the way they had always been.

It was Jack who ultimately broke the silence, leaning closer to whisper in Hiccup's ear. "I love you, Hiccup." And those four words stirred so many emotions inside of Hiccup that he wasn't sure if he wanted to cheer or cry or smile and shout. They were words that he'd always wanted to hear, but actually hearing them now, aloud, directed at him and with full and pure and honest meaning behind them, his eyes began to water.

"Did— did you mean it?" Hiccup asked in a small voice, and before Jack could recoil from Hiccup, he added: "What you said, during sex. Did, did you mean it when you said that I was your omega?"

Hiccup could feel Jack's heartbeat slowing down after momentarily speeding up, and Jack pressed himself against Hiccup's back again, wrapping his arms around the omega's chest. "Every word. I meant every word that I said, Hiccup. Here, at the club, every moment throughout this trip. Every word I've given you has been true. I love you, so completely, so deeply. And I would be honoured to be your alpha, to be—," he paused, and then in a smaller, more bashful voice: "to be your mate." And Hiccup's heart was soaring, his emotions racing, contentedness overtaking him, his omega side purring with pure happiness.

In a small voice, he heard himself reply. "I feel the same, Jack." And then, in the tiniest voice he didn't even know he could make: "Mate," he said to himself, trying on the word, hearing it and knowing that it felt right.

And apparently Jack heard, because his grip tightened around Hiccup as he hugged him, burying his head in Hiccup's neck and smiling. Smiling wide. Pure happiness that was meant for Hiccup and Hiccup alone.

And Hiccup fell asleep with the same face.

* * *

Sunlight streaming through the blinds woke Hiccup with annoyance. Hiccup was not a morning person by any interpretation, and after the sudden realisation that last night's events hadn't been a dream — that they'd _actually happened_ — the bruises and aching and sore limbs only added to Hiccup's displeasure towards the sun. Sometime during the night, Jack had slipped out of Hiccup, though he could still feel slick coating most of his butt and thighs as Hiccup stomped over to the curtains, pulling them shut with more force than necessary.

Glancing at the clock next to the television, the numbers read back that it was 9:34. Jack was stirring now, and the sight of Jack waking up, dishevelled but at utter peace and happiness was enough to make Hiccup forget all of his anger at nature. A silent smile crossed Hiccup's face as he watched his best friend — his _mate_ — waking up, rubbing at his eyes, blinking and squinting at Hiccup. "Morning," he managed out in a groggy and wobbly voice that only grew Hiccup's smile. The omega walked back over to the bed, sitting on the edge with his feet hanging off as he rest a hand on Jack's shoulder, rubbing it gently to try and soothe the muscles that must be aching even more than his were.

"Good morning, my love," he found himself saying before he caught himself, but after the initial shock, he found he didn't want to take any of the words back. "It's 9:30 and breakfast is almost over." Hiccup leaned down to place a kiss on Jack's forehead, unsure where the small but intimate impulse had come from. Jack merely raised both of his arms on either side of Hiccup, grabbing the air with his palms.

"C'm back to bed, 'cup," Jack garbled half into the pillow, and Hiccup smiled as he laid back down, snuggling himself back against Jack.

"If we don't go now, we're going to miss breakfast," Hiccup said even as he closed his eyes and settled into a position he didn't have any intention of leaving.

"s'okay, h'ccup. I'm not that 'ungry," Jack replied. A moment later, he added: "'sides. There's always lunch 'nyways."

And Hiccup smiled widely, to himself and to the world, as he let Jack hold him and fall back asleep, surrounded by all of the love he'd ever wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by my best friend (and now, incidentally, boyfriend) telling me that because of my obsession with omegaverse, every time he saw his bottle of Malibu Heat, he thought of me. And then this sort of, happened. And it was the easiest story I've ever written. I'm not sure how to interpret that, but I don't need to think about it.
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day, Zach. And Happy Valentine's Day, everybody. You're all amazing.
> 
> And maybe it's sentimental, maybe it's just me wanting to tell you all, but: never compare your life, your relationships, to fanfics, or to other people. This isn't the story of my relationship, our relationship. Each person has their own relationship, their own lives, and they are so amazing and complex and even if they don't match a fanfic, it doesn't mean that it's wrong or that you don't match up. Your own story is something beautiful, something unique, and something that is worth writing itself and celebrating.


End file.
